Freaks of Drag Week: The Ironically Hilarious Impala

We didn’t know what to make of Alan Robinson’s 1978 Impala wagon, and neither did the majority of the racers, spectators, and live-stream viewers. What’s a high-rising Donk doing at Hot Rod’s Drag Week? Things got even more confusing when he started ripping off 11-second passes throughout the week. Well, it turns out there’s a 6.0-liter swap with a Borg Warner turbo under the hood, propelling this 4,700-pound behemoth down the track. “I bought it in 2007. It was all stock, and I just wanted to build a cruiser,” Alan said. “I worked at a junkyard for 10 years,” he continued, explaining how easy access to parts made this swap possible. He dropped the LQ4 in the wagon over a weekend in 2009, using a stripped down wiring harness from a delivery van in the yard, and he added the turbocharger a year later. A TH400 backs the engine, connecting to the stock 8.5-inch 10-bolt with a Detroit True Trac with turbo-friendly 3.25:1 gears. Still, the question remains, “why bring a car like this to drag week?” Alan says, he’s been building a Regal, but it wasn’t ready in time, thus the wagon. Plus, the car’s outrageous nature attracted a lot of attention during the week-long competition. At the track, Alan swaps out the 26’s on the rear for a set of drag radials mounted on 9C1 Caprice steel wheels.

Alan and his friends, including Tyler Sandau, tuning the car in the passenger seat, belong to the St. Charles Yacht Club, which itself is an inside joke that started when they planed to go boat racing at their local circle track. According to their t-shirts, “We Put the Ass in High Class”.